Master's Theses Showcase (Signum University)

Page through the abstracts below by clicking on the squares above the records or check out the work of a specific student by using the author list. Unless otherwise specified, the full text of most theses are available only to current Signum students, faculty and staff through logging in to Signum’s Digital Campus, where a searchable database can also be found.

Using the format of a web blog, I have taken a digital humanities approach to creating a concordance of The Hobbit. I presented the project as an on-line lecture for consideration for the Master’s degree; since that time the project has been ongoing.

Inspired by the work of Richard Blackwelder, the concordance focuses on the most unusual words of The Hobbit, those words which are less common than the ten thousand most frequently used words in Project Gutenberg. Tolkien uses 6,000 different words in the 96,000 total words of the work, over 1,500 of which are uncommon by this definition. Over one-third of my concordance entries include etymologies, notes on word usage, and deeper examination of the work.

To aid in scholarly referencing in a work with myriad editions, this project proposes a paragraph index method of citation, to supercede page references. I also propose a paragraph index for Chapter 5 of the 1937 edition, and I’ve included a paragraph comparison of the two editions.

Fair use principles have been adhered to in scrupulous detail. A new method of automated phrase-collection has been developed alongside this project, therefore, and the software developer has made the code freely available in the public domain.

I used a detailed tagging system which has allowed me to digitally examine patterns in the work. Specifically, I have used Lexos, the lexomics tool developed by LeBlanc, Drout, Kahn, and Kleinman, to examine patterns of archaic words, food words, and sound-play words. I compared the remarkable pattern of sound-play words in Chapter 5 of the 1951 edition to the 1937 Chapter 5, in which Gollum was a funny little monster and the ring only a magical gold ring. Given Tolkien’s stated changes in plot, tone, and mood between those editions of Chapter 5, the differences in word use show us the tools Tolkien used to express the corruption of the Ring and its soul-destroying effects on Gollum.

I am the Lorax and I Speak for the Victorians: the Modern-Day Stifling of Steampunk Literature / Costello, John N.

This paper examines the treatment of Victorian culture by First and Second Wave Steampunk authors and considers what Third Wave Steampunk might look like if authors’ creativity is sacrificed for a political agenda.

Who Wants to Live Forever? Immortal Protagonists in Selected Fantasy Series / Moore-Kyle, Jeanie Frances.

While the search for immortality has been part of Western Literature since Gilgamesh, it has only been in the post-Christian era (mid 20th century to present) that it has not been a spiritual quest. The characters of Lazarus Long, Duncan MacLeod, and Saint-Germain (from Robert A,. Heinlein, TV’s Highlander, and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, respectively) are each immortal/long-lived in a different way, but show common character traits in their journeys through time and space. Looking at these characters and their stories, and seeing how they deal with cultural and social changes throughout their long lives gives insight into dealing with the escalating rate of change in the real world.

This thesis explores the broad capacity and applicability in J. R. R. Tolkien’s concept of “sub-creation.” Sub-creation is an idea fundamental to understanding Tolkien’s oeuvre. In his draft letter to Peter Hastings, Tolkien writes the remarkable statement that “the whole matter [of my myth] from beginning to end is mainly con-cerned with the relation of Creation to making and sub-creation” (Letters 188). However, Tolkien’s ideas about sub-creation continue to perplex readers and scholars of his work. This essay represents my effort to address the apparent obscurities associated with Tolkien’s concept, which has also had a significant impact on myself and my creative work. I begin my analysis by examining Tolkien’s three main “sub-creation texts”: (1) his essay “On Fairy-stories”; (2) his short story “Leaf by Niggle”; (3) his poem “Mythopoeia.” In addition to Tolkien’s sub-creation “trilogy” of texts, I explore the mythic story of Aulë’s making of the Dwarves in The Silmarillion because Aulë’s story provides a vivid depiction of Tolkien’s vast sub-creative vision and serves as an embodiment of his concept of the sub-creator or “little maker” (“Mythopoeia” 128). Finally, I make an autoethnographic turn, examining my own story of sub-creation in which I demonstrate my own attempts to apply Tolkien’s sub-creative vision in my life through my self-publishing efforts as an indie game-designer as well as through the writing of this thesis. My controlling purpose in the essay is to articulate the expansiveness of Tolkien’s sub-creative vision and the sustaining significance of the poem “Mythopoeia” to understanding sub-creation because it universalizes Tolkien’s concept of the sub-creator.

I came on a boat: Looney and The Sea-Bell, through the eyes of fairy lore / Holdaway, Penelope.

Tolkien wrote his two poems Looney and The Sea-Bell approximately thirty years apart. Although the two poems are superficially very similar, when analyzed using Victorian fairy-lore a very different vision of Faerie may be seen. This is further complicated by Tolkien’s renaming of The Sea-Bell as Frodo’s Dreme which adds a third vision of Faerie. Although each of these fairies is very different from the other, they all point to a central truth about Tolkien’s Faerie.

Tolkien’s Fall of Arthur makes a bold and idiosyncratic alteration to the Guinever of Arthurian myth. This comparative study examines dual inspirations for Tolkien’s Guinever: first, disruptive fay-women of Celtic myth and folklore; second, fell-minded Anglo-Saxon and Norse ladies. Some critics have charged that Tolkien gives short shrift to female characters; others defend the exalted status of the women he does portray. Guinever, lofty yet despicable, is a new reference point for studies of Tolkien’s treatment of the feminine, and she affirms current scholarly understanding of Tolkien’s repeated attempts to bring together disparate cultural and aesthetic traditions.

The relationship between heroism and brokenness in modern fantasy literature / Kinney, Dan.

My thesis examines the connection that heroism and brokenness share in the genre of Modern Fantasy Literature. I compare the protagonists of early fantasy literature (pre-1900) to their modern fantasy literature counterparts and analyze how and why differences exist within the fantasy genre throughout time. I also present the views put forth by modern academics on how fantasy authors use the genre to present universal truths to the reader. By applying the academic work to modern fantasy texts, I pull from these works of fiction a portrait of heroism that is tied sometimes imperceptibly and always completely to the concept of brokenness. I also examine how the truths that are presented in works of modern fantasy literature are not isolated to the characters of that genre, but how they relate to reader as well. Finally, I examine the relationship between the reader, the author, and the characters that live within works of modern fiction.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth legendarium has invited a variety of scholarly analyses since The Hobbit was first published in 1937. One area that appears to be under explored is how Tolkien’s use of real-world history has informed key events in his fictional world. In this essay, we will explore how the secondary-world histories of Numenor, Gondor and Arnor are, in part, a retelling of the primary world’s myths and history of Atlantis, Rome and Byzantium. It will also explore how Aragorn’s Reunited Kingdom is, in a way, the fulfillment of the classical and medieval European desire for a resurgent Roman Empire to reunify a fractured west.

Scholars of the Old English poem Andreas have long debated its dating and authorship as the poem shares affinities both with Beowulf and the signed poems of Cynewulf. Although this debate hinges on poetic style and other internal evidence, the stylistic uniformity of Andreas has not been suitably demonstrated. This paper investigates this question by examining the distribution of oral-formulaic data within the poem, which is then correlated to word frequency and orthographic profiles generated with lexomic techniques. The analysis identifies an earlier core which has been expanded by a later poet.

A response to Sue Zlosnik’s article “Gothic Echoes” (2005), this thesis examines the Gothic as genre and literary mode with reference to J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Drawing on the work of Julia Kristeva and Susan Sontag amongst others, it makes the case for the importance of style as well as content when defining a work as “Gothic”, and highlights the discordant consequences of reading Tolkien’s work “as a Gothic novel” in the way Zlosnik suggests. Such a case study allows for a clearer definition of the Gothic as a means of signalling stylistic and thematic relationships between literary works.

The story of Beren and Lúthien is called by J. R. R. Tolkien “the chief of the stories of the Silmarillion.” And while Lúthien of the published Silmarillion is arguably one of the most powerful characters in that history, her original incarnation, little Tinúviel, was a very different Elfmaiden. My thesis is, in essence, a biography of Lúthien Tinúviel, from her 1917 appearance in The Book of Lost Tales, through 1931, when his final notes on the Lay of Leithian declare “Lúthien became mortal.” This chronological study examines the different elements of Tolkien’s life which bring her character to this crucial point: his other creative writing, his scholarly interests, and events in his personal life. The Lay of Leithian was the first work Tolkien turned to after he finished The Lord of the Rings, and he continued to write on the problem of the differing fate of Men and Elves late into his life (cf. “Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth”). A fuller understanding of the leaf which is Lúthien Tinúviel will deepen our understanding of the tree which is Tolkien’s legendarium.

Abolishing Man in Other Worlds: Breaking and Recovering the Chain of Being in C. S. Lewis’s Ransom Trilogy / Petrucci, Courtney.

This thesis aims to investigate why C.S. Lewis brings humans into Outer Space in order to Recover a Christian worldview during a time of war. Lewis’s science fiction trilogy was published throughout the WWII era, and his readers were all too familiar with advances in technological warfare and biological experimentation as part of the Nazi agenda. In order to Recover a Christian worldview during such a tumultuous time, Lewis’s first two installments of the trilogy bring humans into Outer Space in order to reconnect with the Medieval Cosmic Chain of Being. Malacandra and Perelandra depict all beings coexisting in the Great Dance, or the interconnected web of beings that Maleldil creates. In the last installment, Lewis’s N.I.C.E., a pseudo-scientific group whose purpose is to create god-like, immortal humans, reflects such technology and experimentation carried out in some concentration camps during WWII. Lewis’s return to Earth in the last installment of the trilogy calls for readers to acknowledge our broken Chain of Being and Recover our faith in God rather than attempt to become gods ourselves. This thesis explores Lewis’s science fiction through J.R.R. Tolkien’s Recovery lens, providing a connection between Lewis’s own Christian worldview, the potential of human self-abolition, and Recovering the Cosmic Chain of Being for modern humans.

“We’re all stories in the end”: the place of Doctor Who in the fairy tale tradition / Sas, Katherine.

More than one fan of Doctor Who, and even several writers of the show itself, have called the long-running series “a fairy tale.” Previous scholarship, however, has focused merely on the show’s allusions to the established canon of fairy tales or made vague references to its sometimes whimsical tone. This essay proposes instead that Doctor Who’s status as a fairy tale results from its emulation of the traditional structure, ethics, and artistic mood of the genre. Beginning with the historical and literary context of the fairy tales, the essay traces Doctor Who’s adaptation of the form and function of the genre, using its themes, tropes, and techniques to become one of the most beloved and influential examples of the literary fairy tale existing today.

This paper examines J.R.R. Tolkien’s political philosophy and how it influenced his legendarium. The primary sources used are Tolkien’s Letters and Lord of the Rings; the primary theoretical framework used is new-historicism. It begins with a look at definitions from political philosophy, specifically classical realism and classical idealism/liberalism and how this seems to relate to Tolkein’s own personality. We then see how this translates into Tolkein’s actual political views. We take a historical look and see how these views were likely influenced by events in Tolkien’s life. The Lord of the Rings gives a prime example of how these same views are expressed in Tolkien’s legendarium. We discuss how Tolkien’s political philosophy was heavily influenced by his Catholicism. We discuss Tolkien’s views on power and how this fits into his political philosophy. We take a specific look at Tolkien’s views on war, and see how he was neither a pacifist nor militarist, but his view was far more nuanced and can be better expressed by the old philosophy of just war theory. Finally, we see the role mercy and pity play in Tolkien’s political philosophy.

Roverandom is the earliest-known fiction that Tolkien wrote for children. Although it originated in September 1925 as an oral tale for his children, the story was not published until 1998, long after Tolkien’s death. Roverandom has generally been underrated as an early and unremarkable children’s story, but it is actually a key work in Tolkien’s corpus, representing his only fully-realized immram, or medieval Irish Otherworld voyage tale. Despite his own occasional disavowals of Celtic influence, scholars have long recognized the critical role of Celtic, and particularly Irish, source material on Tolkien’s works. The immram is especially important, as Tolkien utilized its structure and themes repeatedly throughout his career, although most of his immrama-inspired works were left unfinished. Roverandom, however, represents a complete immram, with a circular journey to and return from the Otherworld, and a corresponding penitential cycle of transgression, exile, instructive episodes, reconciliation and return. Roverandom also includes a number of motifs common to Irish Otherworld voyage tales, such as supernatural aid, magical food, metamorphosis, dualism, and encounters with the monstrous. This unique position in Tolkien’s canon makes Roverandom worthy of further study, especially in conversation with his early unfinished immrama such as The Tale of Eärendel, Ælfwine of England and The Fall of Arthur.

Fate and free will in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien: the music, the motives, and Ilúvatar’s ultimate plan / Swope, Tyler.

The works of J.R.R. Tolkien have been examined through many lenses and from several different angles throughout the years since their publication and many scholars have made a career out of their Tolkien studies alone. Even with all this academic examination, however, one of the least-mined tunnels of Tolkien studies is Tolkien’s depiction of how fate and free will function in his secondary world. Though this topic has been studied by several scholars, most of these scholars have only taken a brief look at particular characters’ decisions and how those decisions immediately affect them and the characters around them. Using Tolkien’s creation account found in The Silmarillion as the framework for the entire analysis of fate and free will in Tolkien’s legendarium, this thesis takes a long term view of how characters’ decisions affect the entire history of Middle-earth by choosing seven of Tolkien’s characters who make impactful choices and taking a close look at how these freely made decisions affect the predetermined history of Middle-earth written by Ilúvatar.

The role of Medieval storytelling and intertextuality in the mainstreaming of geek culture: a case study on Stranger Things / Thomas, Ashley N.

Ashley's thesis theatre was completed but is unavailable at this time.

Abstract:

In today’s film and television landscape, it is difficult to find a completely original property amid the slew of reboots, adaptations, and sequels. The popularity of these types of stories is not new, but not just in the sense of the works being a remake or adaptation, but is also a medieval concept of storytelling. Medieval storytelling and intertextuality have risen to the forefront of popular culture today because of such works. What is interesting is that many of these works have “geek” roots. Be they comic books, written word or filmic representations of previous science fiction and fantasy stories, it is no longer taboo to be a geek in today’s culture. Stranger Things is the embodiment of this movement. Drawing from a wealth of source material, the series embraces prominent works of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and more, wrapping them in the nostalgic package of the 1980s. The series serves as a case study to discuss how the medieval storytelling motif combined with intertextuality has influenced the mainstreaming of geek culture. Speculation on the future of the series and how this type of storytelling may influence current and future works is also discussed.

Praxeology and literature: the intersection of action and imagination / Weyant, Curtis A.

Human action (praxis) has been a core concern of literature as far back as early depictions of tragedy as imitative action (mimesis) by Plato, Aristotle, and their predecessors. Concurrently, philosophers dealt human action in their philosophical investigations, but it wasn’t until the late 19th and early 20th centuries that praxeology—the study of human action—was developed into its own discipline, focused primarily on economic concerns. This paper explores the symbiotic relationship between literature and human action, highlighting imagination as the crux between the two, and demonstrates how praxeology can offer a fresh approach to literary theory and criticism.

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